This is my story of how I left 14 years of Microsoft use and move over to Kubuntu Dapper Drake Linux, 6.06, and the reasons surounding the choice.
Yup 14 years, thats a b!tch long time to use mostly one operating system as your desktop, and after reading the disurbing reports such as the following:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1974911,00.asp
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1974878,00.asp
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1766920,00.asp
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/06/06/06/0434242.shtml
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=882
If you look back at previous posts you will find one about my opinion on copyright, so I have decided to move my desktop completely away from Microsoft and over to a linux distribution. There were a lot of choices for an operating system, but I decided to go for an Ubuntu varient known as Kubunue. The KDE heavy version of Ubuntu (which ships with gnome by default).
I think I chose a winner, I can honestly say that the install was quicker and simpler and a better experience than any Windows insntall I have ever done. The CD boots up into a live CD, and since I was on my works network, the OS that was loaded into memory came with a KDE Desktop, a DHCP client, a broweser and installer (as well as a host of other features), so while the the installer is formating your drive, creating parition tables and installing itself, you can browse the net, or chat on IRC or MSN, or whatever you normaly use.
The least boring install I have ever gone through.
Now I have a new desktop, and it can almost do everything my last one can, and in most cases more so. Click on the thumbnail image below to have a look at the desktop with K Menu extended:
Straight off the cuff, one of the coolest features I noticed in the Operating Sytem, was a media player called AmaroK. To get an idea why I enjoy this media player so much have a look at this screenshot:
http://www.pickledbushman.com/screenshots/amaroK_media_player.jpg
If you are the more practical kind of person the OS comes with a great office suite called Open Office, and its also very easy to run either Adobe Acrobat in linux:
http://www.pickledbushman.com/screenshots/office_support.jpg
Navigating through the drive is really easy, and thumbnail support on folders is far better than its Microsoft counter part. The system comes with great graphic manipulation applications, and I suggest you try out Gimp:
http://www.pickledbushman.com/screenshots/graphic_folder.jpg
There should be no reason why you should need to stay with Microsoft. Media plays cleaner and smoother, the desktop doesnt take the operating system with it when it crashes, and theres a host of other benifits that can not be over looked.
No more anti-virus, no more anti-spyware, no more blue screens of death. If I leave my system running for an extended period I dont get memory leaks all over the place, and when I come back to my desktop, its just as quick as when I first booted up.
Im going to try get the eye candy XGL program installed, and going to add duel monitor support to my xorg.conf file during the course of thie weekend, and I will let you know how that goes. Its got some pretty amazing effects that I cant wait to utilize.
KDE 4 is just around the corner, and popular rumour has it that its going to blow Vista out the water. XGL and KDE4...... ooooooh.... just you wait.
As you can see, there is very little reason to stay with Windows, when Linux can do it all, and if not better. Move over now, before corporate captain copyright owns your soul.
Got any screenshots or suggestions you would like to share? Email them through to me.
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Leetest form of linux there is. The primary OS I now use. Kubuntu, Dapper Drake, 6.06 LTS. I really think people should use this as their default OS
For those of you who dont know, I run Kubuntu OS as my desktop OS. With all the queerness of Microsofts Anti Piracy campaign, I have decided to completely leave the MicroSoft world. Sure, I loose windows media player and some gaming choices. However, you do get awsome games like warsow that are completely open source, and LOADS of fun to play. If you are in South Africa, there is a South African warsow server gracefully hosted by Web Africa. When in the game just type "connect warsow.webfafrica.co.za" And you will connect to the server to be able to jam with the rest of us.
This is a response to the writer of an opinion piece on Thoughtleader who goes by the name of Senteletse Diakanyo (a South African).
Read it here: http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2011/01/response-to-xenophobic-writer-sentletse.html
I consider this a book that every South African should read to get perspective in their lives. Its honesty is most refreshing and Al Lovejoy`s ability to capture in words the essence of a culture and history of a generation of south Africans is amazing. Al Lovejoy has earned a lot of respect from a generation of youth who appretiate the truth. Thank you Al.
Other reviews:
‘Acid Alex is quite simply one of the most shocking autobiographies I have ever read. It is also well-written, addictive, excellent.’
– Sue Blaine, Business Day
‘Heartbreaking! Entertaining! Intelligent!’
– Erns Grundling, SL magazine
‘Nothing I have read has sketched the scorched social landscape of South Africa’s last half-century with such intensity and honesty. Read it.’
– Charles Thesen, Marie Claire
‘There are elements of Hunter S Thompson, Herman Charles Bosman, William Burroughs and William Wharton. But in the end it is an amazing story told in a unique voice. A voice moulded by pain, a voice honed by a government reformatory..., whetted by the SADF, and sharpened by Pretoria Central.
It is the story of a man who went to hell and came back, a morality tale, a Bildungsroman, the narrative of a f*ckup who found redemption, and the anthem of a lost generation.’– Caspar Greeff, Sunday Times
‘Truly, as Koos Kombuis says, this is “an astonishingly breathless story” … Besides being a great read, Acid Alex is an invaluable record of a type of mania that gripped a certain type of South African in the last quarter of the 20th century. It’s a book that’s going to appeal to many young South Africans who currently have to turn to the United States for their myths of pointless excess, and it’s going to inspire them. Not necessarily in a particularly savoury way.’
– Chris Roper, Mail & Guardian
This book is more than just a suggested read.
America has new super smart bullets and guns. Check it out!
http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/11/americas-new-radio-controlled-smart.html
This blog post details some of the amazing advances in CGI graphics. Click on the link below to see the video and read more!
http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/11/most-realistic-cgi-graphics-ever.html
http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-favorite-world-of-warcraft-music.html
Brad Pitt is a freethinker and is not religious
View the video at: http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/11/brad-pitt-on-religion.html
In what has to be a remarkable show of insight into the power of social networking, a British Indie band is offering their album free to download off their website. This is one band, that seems to have googled it. It looks like the older corporate models are failing and hopefully the world will not have to tolerate the insanity that is RIAA much longer.
I love artists with scope.
South Africa needs science and South Africa needs prominent scientific voices. Unfortunately, like the media in much of the rest of the world, South Africa's media is not nearly welcoming enough to the skeptical and scientific views of the world. Luckily, we have great examples from the United States and elsewhere of how self-publication through blogs can affect public discourse, promoting science and acting as a counterweight to indifference, ignorance, and gullibility. However, unlike our comrades elsewhere, South African science bloggers are unconnected and not organized. I propose to change that...Read More
For the new 4G CellC network and gaming information you need to check out this link: http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/11/cellc-and-gaming.html
Really funny flash video depicting the end of the world as the result of a nucleur fall out.
John Stewart pretty much shows us why the hysteria around wikileaks is bad and why wikileaks itself is good. Read more at Karmic Sangoma: http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-does-john-stewart-have-to-say.html
Copy and pasted directly from the Karmic Sangoma blog:
"Yeah its official. South Africa now has an official Wikileaks mirror. This can be accessed by the address http://www.wikileaks.za.org .
The site is currently hosted on multiple servers with hosting in the United States, South Africa, Sweden as well as two off the grid solutions. It will basically be impossible to take down the South African copy of the site for any extended length of the time.
The server and site is currently hardened against anticipated attacks from American secret services. A special thanks to the guys and girls at http://www.mybroadband.co.za for help in motiviation and support for getting wikileaks.za.org up. Please note that MyBroadband in no way endorses wikileaks.za.org and this is a private project by individual MyBB members.
We also recommend a special form of protest for those fighting against wikileaks and free speech. For the big detractors we are offering them white feathers.
Wikileaks is most likely the most important tool for Free Speech since the inception of the Freedom of Information act."
Read more at the original link: http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2010/12/wikileaks-now-has-south-african-mirror.html
For those of you who dont know, I am South African. Im a born and bred white native african, and damb proud of it. However, I will often use words that you may not understand, local slag u wont pick up on. Click on this link to learn a little more about South African slang, aka, Safrikan!
This is a website setup to track the dangerous scammer known as Louis Los Fourie. Chances are when you google his name, this page will be the top Google result. Chances are you also lost money to this asshole. No worries, we are tracking this white trash and he now has an entire website dedicated to bringing him down: http://www.catchacon.co.za
Loyiso Mpumlwana of the ANC in Eastern Cape in South Africa acts like the local village idiot in the latest attempt by the ANC to waste money on more name changes.
Read the full story here: http://karmicsangoma.blogspot.com/2011/01/loyiso-mpumlwana-from-eastern-cape-anc.html
The entire catalogue of information from 1,800 courses at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be available free online by the end of the year. Once uploaded, it will represent one of the internet’s most important resources.
MsDewey.com
I never have never used a search engine this cheeky before :) Its great fun for about 10 minutes.
Seaward.co.za for South Africa`s best coastal real estate.
In what has to be classed as bizare, a clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's swamps.
I came across this site by Anup Shah that has a detailed look into the causes of poverty. I found some of the statistics he shows to be very embarrassing and a shameful reflection on humanity today.
* Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
* The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined.
* Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
* Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
* 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).
Anup Shah shows us the institutions, policies and people behind many of today's causes of poverty.
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty.asp
Haha, these poor lil bunnies. A bunch of pictures of bunnies trying to come up with imaginitive ways to kill themselves.
The Public Library of Science is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. A most excellent link for those of you wanting access to some amazing science.
A really nice Travian signature generator
Just to let you know that Wikileaks has an official South African mirror. http:///www.wikileaks.za.org . Share and link this url as many times as you can to do your bit to make sure wikileaks never goes down.
Ever wondered how many babies are being pushed out every day, or how many people are dying every minute? Well this is the place for you then! This meter currently records those tpes of things, and with a population of 6.5 billion, there are lots of interesting stats for you to check out.
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